CKMV 1: A Short duration, high yielding, drought tolerant, non lodging kodomillet variety suitable for rainfed cultivation in India

A high yielding and early maturing kodo millet variety CKMV 1 was developed at the Centre of Excellence in Millets, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Athiyandal by pure line selection from DPS 63/58. It recorded an average grain yield of 2813 kg/ha and 6967 kg/ha of straw under rainfed conditions in all India trials, which was 14, 28, 34 and 16 per cent higher over the check varieties RK 390-25 (2465kg/ha), RBK-155 (2196kg/ha), GPUK-3 (2103kg/ha) and TNAU 86 (2420kg/ha), respectively. All India Coordinated trials were conducted in three years during kharif, 2017 to kharif, 2019. This variety has registered 18 and 16 per cent increased grain yield over the qualifying varieties KMV 546 and KMV 547, respectively in All India Coordinated trials. This variety has registered 22, 27, 23 and 10 per cent increased straw yield over the check varieties RK 390-25, RBK-155, GPUK3 and TNAU 86, respectively in All India Coordinated trials. This variety has registered 7 and 8 per cent increased fodder yield over the qualifying varieties KMV 546 and KMV 547, respectively in All India Coordinated trials. Being an early duration variety with 106–110 days of maturity, it is the best choice for rainfed sowing. It is a profusely tillering and non-lodging variety and is highly suitable for rainfed cultivation in India. The panicle is long, compact and grains are arranged in irregular rows. The grains are bold and dark brown in colour and nutritionally superior with high protein (8.5%) and Iron (3.8 mg/100g) of rice. The introduction of this high yielding, short duration and drought tolerant culture with nutritionally rich grains will fulfil the needs of the dry land, hill area and tribal farming tracts of India, where Kodomillet is grown predominantly under the rainfed situation.